How Early is Too Early to Plan??? - TR Link Added - 12/29

[afwdwfan]

Oh no! That's terrible. I mean, it's not cancel your reservations and boycott Disneyland-terrible, but that does suck. I mean, WoC? It seems ridiculous to have that many attractions/shows closed at once. Even if the park is prepping for the 60th and it is wintertime.
I can understand your frustration.

Yeah, it really is frustrating. I mean, part of the draw of going to Disneyland for me was to ride the Matterhorn, which I have heard of forever, but never been able to experience because it is only in Disneyland. Then of course the same goes for the recent additions of WoC and Radiator Springs Racers. Seeing as 2 out of 3 of them are now closed.

 

[pkondz]

Wow. Wouldn't it have been easier for Disney just to post a sign saying please come another time?

I would still go... but, man. I totally get your being not overly thrilled.

 

[afwdwfan]

Wow. Wouldn't it have been easier for Disney just to post a sign saying please come another time?

I can see it now....

I would still go... but, man. I totally get your being not overly thrilled.

Yeah, that's kind of my mindset now. Still going to go. Still excited about it. Not nearly as excited as I was a week ago.

 

[pkondz]

I can see it now....

Yup. That's exactly what I had in mind.

 

[momabbate]

So sorry to hear about the refurbs. I grew up going to DL. Haven't made it back for 25 years. I would be disappointed going knowing I would miss all those rides/show. My main reason for wanting to go back is for the Matterhorn and WoC. You still have some great rides; Indiana Jones and Cars Land. Not to mention comparing Space Mountain and Pirates. And make sure to say hi to Mr Toad. I missed Mr. Toad almost as much as Matterhorn. I never got to ride in WDW as my first trip was after he left.

 

[amandaw]

That stinks about all the DL refurbs! I had read that list recently and couldn't believe all the stuff being refurbed. I'm guessing they're trying to get as much refurbed as possible before the 60th anniversary celebrations start up. Could just be an excuse for another trip in the future!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I'm sorry to hear about all of the refurb closures That would completely ruin my planning mood too. Especially since you aren't planning on visiting again in the next couple of years or something.

 

[afwdwfan]

So sorry to hear about the refurbs. I grew up going to DL. Haven't made it back for 25 years. I would be disappointed going knowing I would miss all those rides/show. My main reason for wanting to go back is for the Matterhorn and WoC. You still have some great rides; Indiana Jones and Cars Land. Not to mention comparing Space Mountain and Pirates. And make sure to say hi to Mr Toad. I missed Mr. Toad almost as much as Matterhorn. I never got to ride in WDW as my first trip was after he left.

Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to experiencing the other west coast exclusive attractions. But I'm bummed about missing those 2.

That stinks about all the DL refurbs! I had read that list recently and couldn't believe all the stuff being refurbed. I'm guessing they're trying to get as much refurbed as possible before the 60th anniversary celebrations start up. Could just be an excuse for another trip in the future!

I don't know. Never say never, but it is so much easier and more budget friendly to go to Florida.

I'm sorry to hear about all of the refurb closures That would completely ruin my planning mood too. Especially since you aren't planning on visiting again in the next couple of years or something.

Yeah, ruins the planning mood, but helps with the planning. There's significantly less to plan around now, especially with WoC out of the picture.

 

[MEK]

Holy Refurb! That is CRAZY! That seems like a lot of attractions to be down all at the same time. I don't get it!

I have to agree that it pretty much stinks that you are going to miss HM twice. Boo!

 

[eandesmom]

BOO BOO AND BOO

I don't know what else to say other than



sorry, that bites on all the refurbs

 

[afwdwfan]

Holy Refurb! That is CRAZY! That seems like a lot of attractions to be down all at the same time. I don't get it!

I have to agree that it pretty much stinks that you are going to miss HM twice. Boo!

I guess we should have thought twice before scheduling a trip before the 60th anniversary celebration.

BOO BOO AND BOO

I don't know what else to say other than



sorry, that bites on all the refurbs

I think that response is very appropriate for the situation.

 

[Leshaface]

Thanks for that link. I've never seen so many refurbishments at one time before.

 

[afwdwfan]

Real Life Update and Daily Summary

I just wanted to do a quick update to let you all know what is going on around here. First of all, I’m feeling relieved because we finished harvest on our farm 2 weeks ago before the weather got nasty. My birthday was Monday. I woke up to see this:

My mom called to remind me that the last time it snowed here on my birthday was the day I was born. My Grandpa came to the hospital and made sure someone took me over to a window so that I could see my first snow!



I did take a video one afternoon while we were shelling corn for anyone who might be interested.

We’re glad to be done with harvest. It was a record crop this year. We handled more corn and soybeans than we ever have. Unfortunately, profit wise, this has been probably the lowest income crop we’ve raised since I became involved in the management side of our family farm 10 years ago due to high input (fertilizer, seed, fuel, etc.) prices and commodity prices being about half of what they were a year ago. But we still did well enough to keep things going and get ready for another year of it. I’ve got to say though, if I’d known several months ago what I know now… we probably wouldn’t have planned both trips we have scheduled. DW and I have decided that Christmas/Birthday gifts, etc. will be our trips and we’ll just have to watch discretionary spending more this year. We were talking about going somewhere for a week next summer. I don’t know how realistic that is anymore. Maybe if we can find someplace close and cheap.



On to my day job at the grain elevator, things are still moving along slowly. We have a lot of customers who still have a lot of acres to get across. Last year, this location handled about 2 million bushels of corn more than we’d ever handled before. This year… well, we’re on the verge of beating that number by another 2 million bushels. We’ve loaded about 900 rail cars here since harvest started… that’s over 3 million bushels of corn. We were closed 3 days last week from taking any inbound corn because we were full. We loaded a train on Monday and we just had to stop taking corn again because we’re full once again. I’m so glad I have my vacation on the books already, because I’m sure we’re still going to be getting corn in and loading trains mid-December.

And in case you’re wondering what 2 million bushels of corn looks like… this is a pile of 1.8 million bushels. We did actually get it covered before the weather turned bad, so it should be in good shape when we open it up next spring!

As some of you might have noticed, the past few months my DIS time has been cut back by quite a bit. I haven’t been able to update my PTR or keep up with everyone else’s TR’s quite as well as I used to because I’ve been absolutely swamped here at work. Not only has our volume increased due to the phenomenal crop production this year, but we’ve picked up a lot of new customers. The good news is that despite my added duties, I’m being given some recognition from the company and receiving a raise slightly above cost of living.





Ok, now that the life update is out of the way, there are some things to add about our upcoming trip.

First of all, we’re 23 days away. Which is a totally random number… nothing of any significance. But now that I’ve sat here and counted it out… Wow… it is coming up fast!!!!

I sat down and did a detailed touringplan a couple of days ago. I know that we will not follow them too terribly closely in most cases. But for our full day in DHS, we will absolutely have to! They really don’t make it easy to plan a day there when you want to see most of the shows. I think we can make it work, but it is going to take precise timing to hit all of them! I think if we can stick with the plan, we’ll be able to see all the shows in the park except for Beauty and the Beast. We usually don’t make an effort to see more than 1 or 2 shows on most trips, but the kids will enjoy the Frozen sing along and Disney Jr. And FiL, not being a big fan of thrill rides, will probably be more interested in seeing Indiana Jones and LMA, so those are some higher priorities for us this time around!

Here is a rough outline of our plans as it currently stands:

Friday - Load up and hit the road, hopefully around 8 or 9 pm.

Saturday – Arrive at Art of Animation, hopefully around noon or earlier. Spend the afternoon at the resort letting the kids play and swim, head to DHS at around 3:30 or 4. FP+ for Frozen Sing Along, Star Tours and Toy Story Midway Mania

Sunday – Morning at Magic Kingdom, basically just a few hours around Fantasyland before taking a break with FP+ for Peter Pan, Enchanted Tales with Belle and Barnstormer. That afternoon, we have an early dinner at Garden Grill for the Candlelight processional package. We’ll see CP at 6:45 and possibly stay for Illuminations. We’ll probably do some attractions and tour WS, basically just going with the flow.

Monday – Morning at Magic Kingdom with FP+ for 7DMT, Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain. This will be DS’s first time on the big kid coasters. I know he’s excited about it because when we see Disney commercials with BTMRR on them, he always smiles because he knows he can ride it now. Hopefully the excitement remains as we board our car… We’ll take a break mid-afternoon prior to dinner at Whispering Canyon. We’ll return to MK after dinner to do an attraction or 2 and see MSEP and Wishes.

We currently have FP+ for Be Our Guest lunch for Monday. I’m hoping to switch that to Friday once they have it available.

Tuesday – Morning at Animal Kingdom. Hoping to visit Disco Yeti right after rope drop and then we have FP+ for Kilamanjaro Safari, The Lion King show (which I’ve never seen!), and Dinosaur. DW wants to see ITTBAB, but DD hates bugs, so I’m thinking that might be a horrible idea. We’ll probably grab some lunch at Flame Tree and head back to the resort to take a break and change before dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table and MVMCP!

Wednesday - Likely a full day at EPCOT with a break at some point. We have FP+ for Mission Space, Spaceship Earth and Soarin’. And the highlight of the day… dinner at Via Napoli!!!!

Thursday – A full day at DHS starting with Hollywood & Vine’s character breakfast. We’ll then make a mad dash over to RnRC and maybe ToT before using our first FP+ for Disney Jr. Our other FP+ are for Toy Story and a late afternoon ToT, in case we don’t get it done in the morning. We have an early dinner at Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic! Dining package. Due to our plans to try to see most of the shows, this will likely be a big time commando touring day where we won’t have a chance to leave the park for a break.

Friday – Laid back MK day. It will be our last park day. I’m hoping to secure a BOG FP+ for lunch. We have FP+ for Barnstormer and 7DMT. We also have FP+ for Anna and Elsa... but I’ve still only been able to schedule MiL, DW and DS for an overlapping time block. Every time I have checked availability since booking them, it has shown no other time options available for me to change my FP+ or FiL’s. We’ll likely do anything today we haven’t done yet or want to do again, before our dinner at Chef Mickey. After dinner, we might tour the monorail resorts and then we’ll drive to Daytona Beach. It will be dark when we arrive, but we are staying in a beach front hotel.

Saturday – Wake up and maybe walk down to the beach. Kids love the beach and FiL has never seen the ocean. Hopefully before it gets too late in the morning, we’ll hit the road. We’re planning to drive up the coast and return home through the Carolinas and Smokey Mountains rather than our usual drive up I-75 through Georgia. I’m guessing by the time we hit the road and make what will likely be multiple stops it will be late Saturday night or early Sunday morning before we get home.

 

[KatMark]

First, I'm sorry I missed your birthday. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY A LITTLE LATE FROM ME AND EEYORE:

​

Holy batman that is a lot of corn! I'm glad you got everything done before the bad weather hit. I'd tell you to come to Chicago next summer, but it ain't cheap.

I love your plans and I think you've laid everything out really well (except a few of those meals ). I sure hope it warms up down there for you guys to go swimming.

The kids are going to love the Frozen Sing-Along and I can't wait to hear about DS does on the "big" coasters.

If I don't get back here, Happy Thanksgiving to you and the family.

 

[amazingact21]

Oh wow, snow on your birthday. (Happy belated birthday, by the way!)That's a cool occurrence. (Maybe? Depending on your stance on snow...I'd be miserable, but I'm a whimp in cold weather.)


That is a lot of corn! Holy cow. Those numbers are mind boggling. I can't imagine corn in the millions.
I am sorry the family business not leaving you as comfortable as you'd like, but it's great that you got a raise at your other job. From your posts it sounds like you've worked hard enough to earn it.


Hey, 23 days is a close enough number to celebrate. Before you know it you'll be down to weeks!

I love that your DŚ is so excited ride the coasters. That has to add a whole new level to the pre-trip anticipation.

Your plans all look pretty spot on and cover just about everything parents/kids/grandparents could want to do in Disney. I'm sure it'll be a great vacation. Especially since you're eating at Via Napoli. That alone is worth it!

 

[MEK]

Real Life Update and Daily Summary

Boo for snow! But at least you don't live in Buffalo, NY

[
My mom called to remind me that the last time it snowed here on my birthday was the day I was born. My Grandpa came to the hospital and made sure someone took me over to a window so that I could see my first snow!

Awwww! Great story!

[

I did take a video one afternoon while we were shelling corn for anyone who might be interested.

Cool! It's actually pretty amazing how quickly that machine can shell corn.

[
We’re glad to be done with harvest. It was a record crop this year. We handled more corn and soybeans than we ever have. Unfortunately, profit wise, this has been probably the lowest income crop we’ve raised since I became involved in the management side of our family farm 10 years ago due to high input (fertilizer, seed, fuel, etc.) prices and commodity prices being about half of what they were a year ago. But we still did well enough to keep things going and get ready for another year of it. I’ve got to say though, if I’d known several months ago what I know now… we probably wouldn’t have planned both trips we have scheduled. DW and I have decided that Christmas/Birthday gifts, etc. will be our trips and we’ll just have to watch discretionary spending more this year. We were talking about going somewhere for a week next summer. I don’t know how realistic that is anymore. Maybe if we can find someplace close and cheap.

Glad that you had a great year for crops, but sorry that your profits dropped. It's got to be such a precise balance. I really admire what you do for a living. It's such hard work with so many factors that influence the bottom line.

[

And in case you’re wondering what 2 million bushels of corn looks like… this is a pile of 1.8 million bushels. We did actually get it covered before the weather turned bad, so it should be in good shape when we open it up next spring!

That's really amazing!

[
First of all, we’re 23 days away. Which is a totally random number… nothing of any significance. But now that I’ve sat here and counted it out… Wow… it is coming up fast!!!!

OMG!!!!! 23...err...I mean 22 days! NICE!!!!!

I sat down and did a detailed touringplan a couple of days ago. I know that we will not follow them too terribly closely in most cases. But for our full day in DHS, we will absolutely have to! They really don’t make it easy to plan a day there when you want to see most of the shows. I think we can make it work, but it is going to take precise timing to hit all of them! I think if we can stick with the plan, we’ll be able to see all the shows in the park except for Beauty and the Beast. We usually don’t make an effort to see more than 1 or 2 shows on most trips, but the kids will enjoy the Frozen sing along and Disney Jr. And FiL, not being a big fan of thrill rides, will probably be more interested in seeing Indiana Jones and LMA, so those are some higher priorities for us this time around!

Your plans look wonderful! It sounds like its going to be a great trip!!!!

[And the highlight of the day… dinner at Via Napoli!!!!

Always one of my highlights as well! I Via!!!!

[
Saturday – Wake up and maybe walk down to the beach. Kids love the beach and FiL has never seen the ocean. Hopefully before it gets too late in the morning, we’ll hit the road. We’re planning to drive up the coast and return home through the Carolinas and Smokey Mountains rather than our usual drive up I-75 through Georgia. I’m guessing by the time we hit the road and make what will likely be multiple stops it will be late Saturday night or early Sunday morning before we get home.

Wow - your FIL has never seen the beach? Really? That's so great that you are going to stop in Daytona. My friends live there and they always recommend going on the beach in Daytona Beach shores as opposed to Daytona proper. You can drive on and there are plenty of facilities.

If you have extra time I really recommend the Ponce De Leon lighthouse. It's like $5 to get into the museum and lighthouse area and its really cool. Very close to Daytona. It's at the inlet.

Very cool that you are changing up your drive. When we drove near the smokies we stayed in Seiversville, TN (not sure about the spelling). It's close to the tourist trap area and the mountains.

Your trip sounds wonderful!

Oh, and belated HAPPY Birthday!

 

[THiiNKTiiNKx0]

Happy Belated birthday !!!! I think you are absolutely going to love the Smokies!! That is where my ancestors are from and we go visit every year. It's not easy to do when you only have an hour or two because there is so much stuff to do and it's so beautiful. I get excited even thinking about going lol. And YAYYYY for only a handful (or two) of days until Disney !!!

 

[afwdwfan]

First, I'm sorry I missed your birthday. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY A LITTLE LATE FROM ME AND EEYORE:

Thanks Kathy. And don't feel bad. I don't exactly tend to publicize it. I just had to share the snow story from my mom.

Holy batman that is a lot of corn! I'm glad you got everything done before the bad weather hit. I'd tell you to come to Chicago next summer, but it ain't cheap.

Oh, I know.

I love your plans and I think you've laid everything out really well (except a few of those meals ). I sure hope it warms up down there for you guys to go swimming.

It will be plenty warm to swim. The part where you get out of the water is what will be tough!

The kids are going to love the Frozen Sing-Along and I can't wait to hear about DS does on the "big" coasters.

I hope he enjoys them as much as he thinks he will. History has proven that he should...

If I don't get back here, Happy Thanksgiving to you and the family.

Thanks, Kathy! Same to you!

Oh wow, snow on your birthday. (Happy belated birthday, by the way!)That's a cool occurrence. (Maybe? Depending on your stance on snow...I'd be miserable, but I'm a whimp in cold weather.)

I don't mind the snow. I'm not a big fan of the super cold weather though.

That is a lot of corn! Holy cow. Those numbers are mind boggling. I can't imagine corn in the millions.
I am sorry the family business not leaving you as comfortable as you'd like, but it's great that you got a raise at your other job. From your posts it sounds like you've worked hard enough to earn it.

You know, it's just life. There's ups, there's downs, you just roll with it and hope it all works out. The good news though is that I met with our accountant yesterday and my income tax bill this spring is going to be way down!

Hey, 23 days is a close enough number to celebrate. Before you know it you'll be down to weeks!

We've been so busy that the trip has kind of been set on the back burner, but last night DW and I were up talking about Disney World plans until 12:30.

I love that your DŚ is so excited ride the coasters. That has to add a whole new level to the pre-trip anticipation.

Absolutely!

Your plans all look pretty spot on and cover just about everything parents/kids/grandparents could want to do in Disney. I'm sure it'll be a great vacation. Especially since you're eating at Via Napoli. That alone is worth it!

It absolutely is!

Boo for snow! But at least you don't live in Buffalo, NY

I don't mind the snow. I actually wished there would have been a little bit more. You know, enough to take the kids sledding, but not like Buffalo snow...

Awwww! Great story!

Cool! It's actually pretty amazing how quickly that machine can shell corn.

I was just thinking about it the other day. I saw a neighbor shelling corn with an old John Deere combine with a 4 row head. I started thinking how I couldn't imagine farming with a combine that small! It seemed to take him forever to get a 40 acre field done.

The ironic thing is... that combine is one of 2 that my dad and uncle ran when I was about DS's age. And they covered just as many acres with those 2 little things as we do with our big one now!

Glad that you had a great year for crops, but sorry that your profits dropped. It's got to be such a precise balance. I really admire what you do for a living. It's such hard work with so many factors that influence the bottom line.

It's kind of a mixed emotion type year. It is always great to have so much productivity. But when it doesn't pay off... that part stinks. I'm probably mentally happier now than in 2012 though. We had record poor crops that year, but profitability worked out a little bit better. At least it felt like something positive was accomplished this time around.

OMG!!!!! 23...err...I mean 22 days! NICE!!!!!

I. Can't. Wait!!!!!

Your plans look wonderful! It sounds like its going to be a great trip!!!!

Thanks. I sure hope it is!

Always one of my highlights as well! I Via!!!!

Wow - your FIL has never seen the beach? Really? That's so great that you are going to stop in Daytona. My friends live there and they always recommend going on the beach in Daytona Beach shores as opposed to Daytona proper. You can drive on and there are plenty of facilities.

If you have extra time I really recommend the Ponce De Leon lighthouse. It's like $5 to get into the museum and lighthouse area and its really cool. Very close to Daytona. It's at the inlet.

We're staying at a Holiday Inn Express on Daytona Beach Shores. Free breakfast. Clean room. Good price. It is really just a place to sleep and maybe get to dip some toes in the water. We really won't have any time to do anything there. We'll have about 15 hours on the road that day.

Very cool that you are changing up your drive. When we drove near the smokies we stayed in Seiversville, TN (not sure about the spelling). It's close to the tourist trap area and the mountains.

Yeah, we went there last summer. We enjoy the area. This will just be a drive by though!

Your trip sounds wonderful!

Oh, and belated HAPPY Birthday!

Thanks!

Happy Belated birthday !!!! I think you are absolutely going to love the Smokies!! That is where my ancestors are from and we go visit every year. It's not easy to do when you only have an hour or two because there is so much stuff to do and it's so beautiful. I get excited even thinking about going lol. And YAYYYY for only a handful (or two) of days until Disney !!!

Yeah, we enjoy the Smokies. We actually went there this past summer and usually go with the in-laws for a week on the even number years. This time though, we'll likely just keep on driving right on through.

 

[that's nice]

My birthday was Monday.

I forgot you were a day after me... Happy belated!

I woke up to see this:

Welcome To winter!

My mom called to remind me that the last time it snowed here on my birthday was the day I was born. My Grandpa came to the hospital and made sure someone took me over to a window so that I could see my first snow!

Awwwww.....

I did take a video one afternoon while we were shelling corn for anyone who might be interested.

That moves pretty quick. How often do you have to stop to empty it out?

And in case you’re wondering what 2 million bushels of corn looks like… this is a pile of 1.8 million bushels. We did actually get it covered before the weather turned bad, so it should be in good shape when we open it up next spring!

All you need is a few thousand gallons of oil, butter, and salt and you could have a grand 'ol party!

As some of you might have noticed, the past few months my DIS time has been cut back by quite a bit. I haven’t been able to update my PTR or keep up with everyone else’s TR’s quite as well as I used to because I’ve been absolutely swamped here at work.

And you like talking junk to me.....

Not only has our volume increased due to the phenomenal crop production this year, but we’ve picked up a lot of new customers. The good news is that despite my added duties, I’m being given some recognition from the company and receiving a raise slightly above cost of living.

Congrats on the raise!

Ok, now that the life update is out of the way, there are some things to add about our upcoming trip.

Reading your plans are like reading my own.... there is never enough down time. Hopefully you are able to fit everything in that you want.

First of all, we’re 23 days away.

Wow, this came quickly!

After dinner, we might tour the monorail resorts and then we’ll drive to Daytona Beach. It will be dark when we arrive, but we are staying in a beach front hotel.

Oh cool! Hopefully your FiL will get to dip his toes in.

 

[eandesmom]

Holy cats that is a lot of corn, I'm exhausted just reading about your jobs. Multiple ones! Amazing you have time for an update at all.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!



The plans look good but I have to ask...

Disco Yeti?

Skipping ITTBAB seems wise.... or split up!